I don't like it when TAR brings back early exit teams, so I wouldn't want to see them back again. However, that's just my personal taste - I don't normally like teams who didn't make the F6 to be brought back.

TAR should have a first boot season but just not bring back the cannon fodder teams like Anita & Arthur and Debra & Steve, instead teams like Misa & Maiya, Eric & Lisa, Preston & Jennifer and Avi & Joe.

I don't like it when TAR brings back early exit teams, so I wouldn't want to see them back again. However, that's just my personal taste - I don't normally like teams who didn't make the F6 to be brought back.

TAR should have a first boot season but just not bring back the cannon fodder teams like Anita & Arthur and Debra & Steve, instead teams like Misa & Maiya, Eric & Lisa, Preston & Jennifer and Avi & Joe.

I wouldn't mind that actually! I hope John Vito & Jill would be eligible!

Logged

~I've got a hundred million reasons to walk awayBut baby, I just need one good one to stay~ ♥

That would put John Vito/Jill eligible to be the first 3-time losers. Currently they share the distinction of 2-time non-winners with 9 other teams form AR11 and with 10 other teams from AR18. As George H.W. Bush (or at least Dana Carvery portraying him) was fond of saying "not gonna happen").

Misa and Maiya Tanaka finished the season's opening "Amazing Race" challenge, a balloon search in a Santa Barbara vineyard, in last. That wasn't why they were eliminated.

They also finished the season's first Roadblock, a combination of skydiving and map-based navigation, in last. That wasn't why they were eliminated.

Instead, Misa & Maiya sped through an empanada-making challenge in Argentina and seemed to be on the verge of surviving an astounding number of opening leg missteps to remain in the Race ahead of Joey "Fitness" & Danny.

But after recovering their bags from a nearby cab and heading in the direction of the Pit Stop, the San Diego-based sisters were unable to spot host Phil Keoghan waiting for them patiently at the mat. As Phil stood and watched in sad confusion, Misa & Maiya ran off in a different direction and, finding nothing there, eventually returned, by which time it was too late.

A couple days after their elimination episode aired, I caught up with car buyer Misa and professional golfer Maiya for the season's first "Amazing Race" exit interview.

HitFix: What was it like having to relive the first Leg on Sunday, watching it on TV?

Misa Tanaka: Reliving it on TV was kinda just as heartbreaking as living it there, in that moment, just because we're going through that emotion all over again and it just brings back all of the emotions and the memories of the experience that we went through, all of the frustration and just the disappointment of coming in last, as well. So it was definitely a tear-jerker watching it.

Maiya Tanaka: It was definitely really hard watching it, but we were surrounded by friends and family, so we knew it was going to be hard, but just having them there really helped. We did cry a little bit. We're not going to lie.

HitFix: How did the friends and family respond?

Misa: Our friends and family were heartbroken. They were crying with us.

Maiya: Yeah, they were really supportive, though, and they made sure we knew that they were proud of us and that we still represented for San Diego and for everyone and that, in the end, we got this amazing opportunity. They just helped us realize that, too.

Misa: That was the best thing is just having all of their support and love. It just made us very appreciative of everybody who was there with us in support. We're just lucky to have such a close family and friends.

Maiya: And even everybody who cheered us on watching! We knew we had a lot of supporters that weren't able to be there, but were cheering us on across the nation, pretty much, and we're just very thankful that we came across as we actually are and that we had the opportunity.

HitFix: You guys have had some time to reflect on this and then to rewatch it. What actually went wrong at that Pit Stop in Argentina?

Maiya: That whole day, everything seemed to be going wrong, basically from the start. We started off really strong. We sprinted up that first hill, no problem. But basically, not being able the find that first clue... We pulled down every single balloon at least twice, we thought. Having to go up and down that winery, which the hill is actually really steep. I don't know if you could tell on TV, but it was a very steep hill, so it was just very frustrating. We tried to stay in it throughout that day.

Misa: We definitely stayed in it through that entire day and we maintained our focus and yeah, we had a few unlucky breaks with the balloons and then Maiya getting stuck in the sand and then us leaving our backpacks. So that was a huge contributor. It was a long, long day and us being frantic and not knowing exactly what to look for at the end of the day, it was just really tough.

Maiya: So basically what went wrong at the Pit Stop is that we expected to see Phil and maybe someone from Argentina and we totally had the tunnel-vision thing going on where we were dehydrated and we were very frantic because we knew we were just a few empanadas away from Danny & Joey pulling up to the map, so we knew we had to find Phil and we had to find him fast. We just weren't thinking clearly.

HitFix: Is this one of those things where it looks easy to us when we're just sitting on our couches, but in that moment there are a ton of complications we just can't imagine?

Misa: Yeah, 100 percent. You're going through so many emotions. You don't eat. You don't sleep. You're racing in the race of your life and also with the added pressure of having our competitors Danny & Joey right behind us, just all of that in combination was just a total contributor to it being very difficult to know what to look for with the Pit Stop, too. So yeah, it's one of those things where you watch it and you think, "Oh, it's not that hard," but it totally is. Those hills? On TV looking at it, it looks 10-times easier than what it really was. We had to sprint up and down those hills, across two acres, going from the right to the left and back to the right and down to the middle. We probably pulled 200 hundred of those balloons, so that looked a lot easier. It looked like we were just, "La-di-dah," going around and pulling those balloons down, but we were really sprinting the entire time. And then Maiya getting stuck in the sand, that was an effort for her, experiencing that and having to track down somebody who could actually pull her out of the sand was an effort in itself. So it definitely looked a lot easier than what we actually experienced.

Maiya: Yeah, obviously there was a lot going on in that particular show, so there were a lot of things that got cut, so there's a lot of things that you would have never imagined happened, just the length of time that I was stuck in the sand and how bad I just wished I had my sand-wedge to help me hack out my car from the sand. I waved down so many different people and it was a group effort, me and the Argentineans there. Basically, just the whole day was just such an unlucky struggle, but in the end we knew we had it and we never gave up and we made those empanadas as fast as we could. And in the end, we thought we had those boys, we thought we had those Guidos.

HitFix: How long were you in the sand, Maiya?

Maiya: I was there... Honestly, time did not exist. All I knew is that I had to get to my sister or she would be really, really mad at me.

Misa: I was standing there for a while. I was waiting there with Joey, because Danny didn't know how to drive a stick, so I'm sitting there and I totally expected Maiya to beat him and I was in shock when Danny came running up and that's when I started getting so worried, because I knew Maiya was gonna be able to find the place relatively easy. She knew how to drive stick and she knew how to read a map and utilize a compass, so it was like an eternity waiting there. It probably wasn't, but your perception of time is a little bit skewed when you're frantic like "Oh my gosh!" trying to get through the challenge.

Maiya: And she thinks she was frantic! Literally, I had to figure out how I was going to get myself out of the predicament I got in by pulling off too early. I was the first one from that second group out of the airport and I knew exactly where I was going, but where the "X" was on the map, I pulled off 50 yards short, which is a chip-shot away from where my sister was. So I saw her land. So I was stuck in the sand for longer than she was actually waiting. Basically, I knew that I had to get there some way or another. I eventually got out of it and we weren't that far behind. I didn't see any team pass me for a good half-an-hour.

Misa: For what Maiya experienced and for her being stuck in the sand, I feel like she got to me relatively quickly, because even when we were running back to the cars, getting back and running through that sand, we were able to see three cars going and driving off. They were probably 50 yards ahead of us. We actually weren't too behind at that point. Maybe 10 or 15 minutes or so.

HitFix: One of the problems with you guys going out so early is that we got to see you as a team, but we barely got to know you as individuals. If you guys had stuck around on the Race, how were viewers going to see you guys as being different from each other?

Maiya: We're so dramatically different, but that's what makes us a good team, because we are different. We have different strengths and we have different personalities. Growing up together, we were able to understand why that is. She's the older sister, so she usually knows what she wants and it's her way or the highway. We worked pretty well. I think if we did stick around a little longer, you would have seen how our personalities are different.

Misa: I think that's the biggest thing, is viewers would get to know a little bit more about us. Our similarities are that we're competitive, but we're different. For me, I'm usually the decision-maker. I'm a little bit more picky when it comes to food. I kinda get over things a little bit more quickly. Maiya, she rolls with the punches. I dunno. I think that'd be the biggest thing, our personalities.

Maiya: I think you could kinda see our competitiveness and just how we did react differently. As soon as we got stuck in the sand, I kinda got a little worried. I don't really get angry, I more get concerned like, "OK, what am I gonna do next? How am I gonna fix this?" In the end, you could tell that I'm a little bit more emotional. I broke down crying right when we landed on the mat. I cried my eyes out that day

Misa: And I was so angry and frustrated I couldn't shed a tear at that point when we were on the mat. So Maiya's definitely a lot more sensitive than I am. I kinda just roll with stuff. I don't react emotionally too much, but I think I become a little bit more frustrated than she does, so I was just really more angry than anything and just disappointed.

Maiya: I think just from golf, that's kinda helped me to keep an even keel personality, where basically I try to process the information and deal with the situation in the calmest matter that I could. So I think you just would have seen how great of a team we could be. Basically, we did pick the right person for the challenge. My sister is crazy. She loves heights and she'll jump off of whatever you want and whatever challenge is in front of us, she'll tackle it. She'd do any of that stuff. So we already knew that she'd be the one bungee jumping or whatever would be kinda crazy and I'm more of the navigator and all of that stuff. It worked out so far to our advantage, but we just got a little unlucky.

HitFix: As a last question: It was a short run, but did you feel like there were any lessons you took away from this brief "Amazing Race" experience?

Misa: I think the biggest lesson is really to be thankful and just to realize that we are winners at the end of the day. We got to compete in these challenges and experience "The Amazing Race" and thousands of other people would kill to be in our position. So at the end of the day, we're really just thankful for our experience and we're very thankful for all of the support of our family and friends as well.

Maiya: Yeah, I think in the end, you just have to focus on the bigger picture and just how blessed we are in order to get selected for this show. Everyone along in the processes, they saw something in us and saw something in our teamwork together and just us as people. So we're really thankful that we got the opportunity and we will continue to just be working for the bigger picture. We're gonna try and use this for the good and get involved in charities that we believe in. We're actually going to be doing a reality rally for Michelle's place and just get involved in as many things as we possibly can and work for that, for the positive.

I don't like it when TAR brings back early exit teams, so I wouldn't want to see them back again. However, that's just my personal taste - I don't normally like teams who didn't make the F6 to be brought back.

TAR should have a first boot season but just not bring back the cannon fodder teams like Anita & Arthur and Debra & Steve, instead teams like Misa & Maiya, Eric & Lisa, Preston & Jennifer and Avi & Joe.

I wouldn't mind an early boot season, some of them were just plain unlucky and we didn't get to know them.

Hate to bump an old thread but I just watched Maiya on Big Break Sandals Resorts. To watch her crack under pressure time and time again was a sore reminder of this mistake. Looks like she's raising money to go to the LPGA's Q-School come September. Just wanted to wish her the best of luck and hoping that these little mistakes are no indication of her future.

Maiya Tanaka qualified for the CN Canadian Women’s Open after finishing in the top four at Morgan Creek golf course on August 20, 2012.

For golfer Maiya Tanaka, the plan was to go on the CBS reality show The Amazing Race 20 in February with her sister Misa, win the $1 million US first prize and use the cash to launch her career on the LPGA Tour.

But a wrong turn somewhere in Argentina scuttled that idea.

The San Diego sisters were the first team punted from the race, which sees two-person teams globetrotting from country to country.

This week, Tanaka — who is making her LPGA Tour debut after earning one of four tournament spots at the Monday qualifier with a two-under par 70 at Morgan Creek — is hoping to keep a straight course and do some amazing things at the CN Canadian Women’s Open at the Vancouver Golf Club.

Tanaka, 25, has had to do her share of scrambling just to get here.

“I am a fighter, definitely,” she said Wednesday before hitting a bucket of balls at the driving range.

“I’ve had this goal to get to the LPGA and I’ve had a few things that I’ve had to overcome, but I do feel like I’m in a really good place now.”

Tanaka didn’t grow up rich. She was one of four children raised by a single mom. She started golf at age 11 in the First Tee Program, an academy that brings the sport to under-privileged kids who wouldn’t otherwise be able to play.

In high school she and her sister started a girls team after Maiya had played on the boys team all year only to be ruled ineligible to play in the state tournament.

Tanaka went on to play golf for UCLA, but not until her junior year. She didn’t get an athletic scholarship, but got into the school on her academic record and eventually made the team as a walk-on.

She graduated in 2009 and tried to turn pro, living out of her car while she played four small California-based tours. Pleas for sponsorships pretty much fell on deaf ears.

In 2010 she was a player on Big Break Sandals, the reality show that aired on the Golf Channel. In the show, 11 women competed for tournament exemptions, but that too failed to ignite her career.

“I originally did the Big Break Sandals thinking that would help me get on Tour,” Tanaka said.

“After that I was considering quitting golf just because I didn’t have the funds. I ended up working last year and I had seven jobs. I bartended, I babysat, house-sat, dog-sat ... whatever I could do. I moved back in with my mom, and that’s where I am right now. It’s pretty difficult.”

Maiya and her sister enjoyed The Amazing Race even though they got to within metres of the first pit stop only to head off in the wrong direction and get passed.

“My sister and I loved the show,” she said. “The plan was to win the million dollars and sponsor myself. It didn’t go as planned.

“But a lot of people auditioned, and we just felt really blessed to get to the point where we were actually selected. They saw something in us, so it always gives you a little hope whenever you do accomplish a goal and the goal was to get on the show and experience travelling the world together.

“We got to do that and out of it my sister and I got a lot closer.”

Tanaka isn’t upset about her struggle. Far from it.

“I think it being a struggle, it just makes it more worth it,” she said.

“When you have to fight for something, when everything is working against you, you have to be the person who decides, ‘OK, this is what I want to do.’

“I’ve always made it a goal of mine and I didn’t want to give up on that goal. So it being a struggle makes me want it that much more than if had been handed to me.”

Tanaka will be an underdog this week in a field that includes 48 of the top 50 money earners on the 2012 LPGA Tour. She’s struggled on the Symetra Tour this season, but is an alternate for next month’s Q School in Florida.

“I’m hoping,” she said when asked about getting to Florida.

“What happened is I didn’t have the money [$3,000] for Q school when they released the application [forms]. I sent in my application and it turns out they do it on the order in which they received it, so I’m on the alternate list.”

She’ll have Calgary’s Brent Jespersen as her caddy. It’s the first time he’s caddied, the pair getting together because Jespersen’s father and her coach are friends.

A decent showing at the Canadian Open would help her chances of getting to Florida.

And winning a spot on Monday was a confidence boost.

“I think just getting into this event is the deciding factor that’s really going to help me to keep going and know that I do have what it takes,” she said.

“It’s really [about] proving it to myself because I’m the only one who has been telling myself that I can do this. I’ve been going at this solo so it’s nice to see some progress.

“So far it’s more of a make it year than a break it year. I’m looking forward to it.”